I created this blog to record my various experiences with building and weaving on a warp weighted loom. Since then I have decided to not only blog my loom activities, but all the other projects that distract me along the way.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

So starts the research for peiod warp thread materials...

With weaving, especially on a weighted loom using hand spun wool, the kind of roving/wool used is very important.
Why? It's simple - stretch. Short staple (the length of the fibers) stretch. It's great for things that are knitted, crocheted, or even Naalbound, but not for weaving. For weaving stretch is not a good thing and adding weight just makes it stretch more.
So what I'm looking for is a long staple wool, from an unaltered breed.
Unaltered breed - what's that you say?
Well, as you may or may not know, people like to tinker with mixing different breeds of animals together to produce an animal that is better suited to their needs. This is normally not a bad thing, however, for the purpose of authenticity, using an unaltered breed is the best idea. (i.e.Anglo-Saxons would not have has access to wool from a sheep that didn't exist until 1847 :)
Lucky for me, England is actually into preserving unaltered breeds and ordering my roving is now just a few clicks away...Yay inter-webs!

Cotswold originated in the hills of
Gloucestershire, England from indigenous stock and is one of the oldest
breeds known to us.
It has contributed to the ancestry of other breeds in UK and Europe.
It is large with a white face, wool on the legs, with a characteristic
lock of wool on the forehead. Cotswold sheep are noted for their long,
strong fiber,
with lustrous natural wavy curls.